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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25590619">Forget You're Human</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/24kriegs/pseuds/24kriegs'>24kriegs</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>She's Special [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/F, Major Character Injury</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 05:01:32</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,822</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25590619</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/24kriegs/pseuds/24kriegs</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Ava thinks she's replaceable. Sara and Ava have some things they need to talk about</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Sara Lance/Ava Sharpe</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>She's Special [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1866715</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>105</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Forget You're Human</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Sara,” Ava yells, “get behind me!” she frantically hooks her hand around Sara’s elbow and uses all her remaining energy to yank her backwards. She hears Sara protest but her only focus is protecting Sara from the onslaught of bullets raining down on them. Once she’s certain Sara is out of the line of fire, she moves forward and ducks behind a handily placed barrel when she checks her ammo. Sara darts her head around the corner of the wall Ava had pulled her behind with a questioning look. “Stay there,” Ava warns. She knows she won’t be able to concentrate on the task at hand if Sara is in danger.</p><p>“What’re you doing?” Sara’s voice fills her ears as she uses the comms to communicate effectively.</p><p>“Protecting you,” Ava replies curtly before quickly revealing her position as she gets a shot off, taking out one of the gunmen.</p><p>“This is ridiculous, Ava.” Sara replies, Ava refuses to look at her, convinced she’ll be met with a frustrated scowl from her girlfriend. Instead, she switches her crouching position to face the other way. The barrage of bullets cutting off any path for Sara to follow her. Ava spots a cluster of three barrels to her right, she takes a deep breath before aiming her gun towards where she suspects another gunman to be. She runs and gets off two shots, there’s a slight break in the gunfire but it quickly resumes, suggesting that she’d been close, but not close enough.</p><p>Ava checks her ammo once again. She has two bullets left in the chamber and one more full clip in her holster. She can do this.</p><p>“Ava,” Sara’s exasperated voice fills her ears once more. “Let me help.”</p><p>“I’ve got this. Just stay safe.” Ava dismisses as she looks out from her new position. She can clearly see one man and wastes no time in lining up her shot and pulling the trigger.</p><p>“I’m not defenceless,” Sara argues.</p><p>“You have a bo staff. They have guns.” Ava retorts, in her mind, she’s shut down Sara’s argument.</p><p>“That’s never stopped me before, quit being stupid.”</p><p>“I’m not being stupid. You can’t be replaced.” Ava rationalises. After all, it is the truth.</p><p>“Neither can you,” Sara’s voice is much softer this time but Ava ignores it. She spots her next move and takes it, zig-zagging across the room until she reaches her next spot to hide in. Ava knows she’s going to have to break her position to be able to get a clear shot off at the man. She bides her time and waits for the few seconds of reprieve as the man has to change his magazine. She takes a few steps out into the open, gun raised, finger on the trigger. She lines up her shot and sends two bullets flying into the side of his head. As quickly as she can, she ducks back into her hiding spot and discards her clip, before reloading with her last fresh one. There’s a few moments of silence before gunfire starts up again. This time, however, it’s coming from behind her.</p><p>All she can think of is Sara.</p><p>Without considering her moves, she jumps out of her hiding position and runs towards the gunfire. She sees two men, and fires her gun at one of them, she gets off two shots before the gunfire becomes aimed at her.</p><p>“<em>Fuck</em>. Son of a-.” A man exclaims as the gunfire dwindles slightly.</p><p>“You hit his arm.” Sara’s hushed voice says in her ear. Ava takes a swift glance over the barrel and spots one man looking around, aimlessly firing. He’s an easy target and not doing his job effectively. The other is nursing his hand, seemingly in a state of shock. Ava doesn’t risk keeping her head above cover for long enough to search for Sara.</p><p>“Are you safe?”</p><p>“I guess.” Sara responds. It’s not enough to satisfy Ava but she supposes that’s the best answer she’s going to get from her. Sara isn’t the type of person to do as she’s told, she makes her own rules. Well, except for that one time Ava pinned her against their bedroom wall, but they don’t talk about that. No. Sara is a strong woman who doesn’t need the protecting, nay, she does the protecting.</p><p>She doesn’t understand Ava’s insistence on keeping her out of the way but there’s a tone in Ava’s voice that she’s only ever heard once before. It was the same tone Ava had used when she’d broken up with her, the words ‘I’m done’ played over and over in Sara’s mind for weeks until she’d managed to get Ava back by her side. The thought of losing Ava terrifies Sara and it sends her emotions reeling as she tries to work out what she could have possibly done wrong.</p><p>In her hiding spot, Ava checks her gun one last time, the last thing she needs is for it to jam. She quickly rises over the barrel and takes a shot, taking down the ineffective gunman. The man she’d tagged before is nowhere to be seen. It’s quiet. Too quiet for Ava’s liking. She’s about to call out to Sara on the comms when she hears what she assumes to be a barrel tip over.</p><p>“Oh fuck.” Sara’s voice fills the silence. Sara had been too busy being in her head, obsessing over the details of their last encounter, trying to work out where she’d gone wrong, that she hadn’t noticed the man sneak up on her. It was too late for her to react, all she could hope now was that she could get to the man before he decides to fire the gun he has levelled at her head. She’s not sure if Ava will come for her. Sara’s not even sure if she wants Ava too.</p><p>“Found you.” A man’s voice follows Sara's, there's a distinct venom in his voice that sets Ava on edge. Instantly, she’s up and moving. She has to get to Sara. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t kill you for what you’ve done,”</p><p>“I mean… I didn’t actually do any of this.” Sara replies attempting to wast time whilst she thinks of a plan, “I wasn’t allowed.” Ava can almost imagine the pout on her face as she teases the man. She’s waiting to hear the sounds of Sara fighting but they never come, instead, she heads towards where she thought she’d heard Sara’s voice.</p><p>Ava turns a corner and all of a sudden finds herself confronted with her worst nightmare. She finds her girlfriend sat on the floor, her bo in her hand. The man is a fair distance away but has a handgun trained on her, his bleeding arm raised covering his chest. It’s clear to her now why Sara hasn’t attacked. It doesn’t matter how fast and stealthy the reformed assassin is. Even Sara Lance can’t outrun a bullet.</p><p>Ava makes sure to stay out of eyesight as she formulates a plan. She has options but Ava doesn’t entertain them. Instead, she takes the first idea that pops into her head and goes with it. She has five bullets left in her chamber. She knows far too many ways to kill someone. She is highly trained in multiple styles of hand to hand combat. She can do this. It’s easy for her. Second nature.</p><p>But Sara is at risk. And it throws her for a loop. The usual rational side of her brain that would’ve kicked in by now to question her rash decisions have uncharacteristically stayed quiet. For the first time in her life, she enters a fight with a clear mind. No exit strategy, no backup plan and certainly no backup plan for the backup plan. Some might say she’s fully embraced the Legends frame of mind.</p><p>Things don’t go the way Ava had planned. The moment she moves from her hidden position the man spots her and fires a shot mere inches from Sara’s head who jumps slightly before glaring at the man. Ava stops dead in her tracks. Whilst she assumes it was a warning shot, there’s nothing to say he’s not just a rotten shot and had intended to shoot Sara.</p><p>“Drop the gun.” He grins at Ava. Slowly, she crouches down without breaking eye contact with him. She places the gun down onto the floor, making sure to not put the safety on. This wasn’t how things were supposed to go but Ava can improvise. She thinks.</p><p>Normally a stickler for rules and protocol, Ava’s actions have thrown Sara even further off her game. Improvisation isn’t Ava’s strong suit, her inability to give up control doesn’t usually allow for her to be easily flexible and she often struggles to adapt to new plans. It’s the reason why she creates so many plans in her head before diving into a situation. But this time around, she’s without a plan and no choice but to adapt to her new situation. Ava just hopes that Sara will catch on to what she’s doing. It’s time for Ava to take a leaf out of the Legend’s book.</p><p>“So it was you,” The man’s voice is gruff and accusing as he splits his glances between the two women. “You killed my team,”</p><p>“Your team? I thought you were all just pawns in Darhk’s game.” Ava shrugs, not playing into the man’s games.</p><p>“I’d be doing him a favour. Especially killing that.” He gestures towards Sara and Ava feels her heartbeat spike. How dare he refer to Sara as a ‘that’. “It’s you he’s interested in, after all.” The man continues, causing both women to look at him confused. “No?”</p><p>“No.” Ava answers, not understanding what he’s talking about. Why on earth would Damien Darhk be interested in her other than as a way to hurt Sara.</p><p>“You’re Ava Sharpe.” He states as if it’s obvious. “And you are the infamous Sara Lance who went down without so much as a squeak. Your reputation oversells you.”</p><p>“So you know who we are, big deal.” Ava presses, ignoring his insults towards her girlfriend.</p><p>“You’re special, apparently, replaceable. Don’t see it myself but the boss says you’re not like us.” He snarls. “Either way, I can’t take both of you and I can’t very well leave you here to squeal to those annoying little friends of yours.”</p><p>It all happens so quickly. Ava sees him adjust his stance and his grip on the gun and she knows what’s about to happen. His sole focus is on Sara and Ava knows she has to act now. In a split second, she’s knocked her gun forward, hoping that it’ll slide somewhere near Sara as she lunges forward, diving between the man and Sara as she hears the inevitable gunshot ring out in her ears, followed by another. Her body slams against the floor ungracefully. She hadn’t had time to plan a landing in her head.</p><p>There’s a hot white burning sensation spreading through her stomach. Ava prides herself on having a high pain tolerance but she’s never felt anything quite like this. Ava feels a new pressure on her stomach but she can’t work out what it is but the pain she’s feeling increases tenfold and she hears herself let out something resembling a strangled scream. She isn’t sure she wants to look. She knows by now that she has been shot. It takes her a moment to focus on the face that appears in her vision above her. Calming blue eyes look down at her between falling blonde hair and Ava feels instantly more at ease.</p><p>“Are you okay?” She stammers.</p><p>“Thanks to you,” Sara responds softly, “What the hell were you thinking?”</p><p>“I wasn’t,” Ava replies honestly as her breathing gets heavier.</p><p>“Did you just forget that you’re human?” Sara asks incredulously. Ava thinks it might be a rhetorical question but she answers anyway.</p><p>“I don’t know,” Ava mutters, “maybe, yeah.” Sara hasn’t seen Ava look so small and fragile since the days following the revelation that Ava was a clone. Perhaps mistakenly, she’d thought they’d passed this insecurity. Ava is a fully-fledged member of the Legends, they’re co-captains (for life, as Sara liked to say), they’re so much more than just a reformed assassin and an ex-government official.</p><p>“Just hold on for me, Aves. You’re going to be okay.”</p><p>“I love you, Sara.” Ava smiles up at her. “I’m sorry.” For everything, she wants to say but Sara hushes her.</p><p>“You have nothing to be sorry for baby. I love you. You just gotta stay with me until I can get you to Gideon. She’ll fix you.” Sara fumbles for time courier on Ava’s wrist as she attempts to keep the pressure on Ava’s seeping wound whilst inputting the ship's coordinates. “Co-captains, remember? We do this together..” Sara says strongly as she manages to open a portal onto the Waverider.</p><p>“You can’t be replaced,” Ava repeats before her eyes flutter shut as she loses consciousness.</p><p>“Neither can you,” Sara replies but Ava has already passed out. Sara carefully scoops Ava into her arms, it’s awkward and Ava is a heavy dead weight, but she manages it. She carries them through the portal before shouting for help. She knows she’ll struggle to make it to the med-bay by herself.</p><p>“Gideon shut the portal and prep the med-bay.” She instructs firmly as she continues to slowly make her way towards the med-bay.</p><p>“Sara,” Nate calls behind her, “Oh my god. What happened?” He asks panicked as he arrives at her side, instantly taking Ava from her arms and heads quickly to the med-bay with Sara at his heels.</p><p>“She was stupid and took a bullet meant for me,” Sara responds angrily as they hook her up the medical system. “Gideon?”</p><p>“Scanning now, Captain,” Gideon responds.</p><p>“She’s going to be okay, Cap.” Nate says softly, placing a tentative hand on her shoulder which he quickly retracts when Sara glares at him.</p><p>“Captain Sharpe has a gunshot wound to the upper left abdominal area, just below her ribs. I’ll need to perform a laparotomy to clean the wound and find where the bleeding is coming from. It could be her liver or her spleen. Or both. I won’t know until I’m in there as I don’t have the capability to perform a CT scan. I’ve already started her on a blood transfusion and a morphine drip for the pain.”</p><p>“What can I do?”</p><p>“Get out of here. This is an invasive surgery, you don’t want to be here.”</p><p>“Gid-“</p><p>“Captain Lance, I need everyone out of this room to maintain a sterile environment. I will let you know when you can come back in.” Sara is certain that Gideon is lying to her. But none the less she’s prepared to listen. She leans down over Ava and presses a delicate kiss to her still lips.</p><p>“Hold on for me.” She whispers before pulling away and keeping her eyes trained on Ava’s surprisingly calm face.</p><p>“Sara, come on, let’s go get you cleaned up and let Gideon help Ava.” Nate says softly, holding out his hand to her. Reluctantly, she takes his hand, an apology in her eyes as she allows herself to be pulled from the room. Sara allows Nate to help her wash Ava’s blood from her arms and face before he walks her back to her room so she can change whilst he goes to inform the rest of the team what had happened.</p><p>Sara ends up putting on one of Ava’s hoodies and makes her way back to the med-bay where she sits outside of the closed doors waiting for Gideon to allow her to return to her girlfriend's side. It doesn’t take long for Zari to silently join Sara on the floor. She’s not sure how long she’s been sat there but she’s grateful for the silent company as she drops her head onto Zari’s shoulder when she feels tears begin to prick the back of her eyes. Sara blinks furiously in an attempt to keep them at bay but they’re released when Zari cautiously places her hand on Sara’s knee in an attempt to reassure her.</p><p>Sara isn’t sure when it happened, but at some point Charlie had joined them on the floor, sitting on Sara’s other side. They’re quickly followed by Nate and Ray who sit opposite. The group sit in silence, sensing it’s what Sara needs and just waits. Eventually, Sara stops her tears from falling and calms her breathing. She removes her head from Zari’s shoulder and runs her hands over her face, wiping away the tear tracks that line her cheeks. Mick stumbles out into the corridor from his room and looks at the group curiously. Ray quickly jumps up and explains the situation to Mick in hushed tones, who just grunts before walking through the group and sliding down the wall next to Charlie.</p><p>Sara’s anxiousness increases with every passing moment. She’s never been good at sitting and waiting. Especially not in situations like these. Ray seems to sense this, having been in this situation with Sara a few times before in Star City.</p><p>“Gideon, can we get an update?” Ray asks the AI.</p><p>“Captain Sharpe is doing well. I’m nearly done.” Gideon responds calmly.</p><p>“Thank you.”</p><p>The group goes back to sitting in silence and Sara attempts to focus on the fact that Ava is doing well, whatever that means, and that Gideon is nearly done and that means Sara can return to Ava’s side soon. A few minutes pass before Sara breaks the silence.</p><p>“I…” her voice croaks and she ends up having to clear her throat after all her crying. “I just want to say thank you.” Sara’s voice is small and vulnerable, “You guys are family and I’m sorry for being rude earlier.” She directs her attention to Nate.</p><p>“You’re all good, Cap.” Nate smiles, Sara can tell he appreciates the apology. The rest of the team just smile at her before returning to their silence. Sara begins to absentmindedly play with the strings of Ava’s hoodie as she attempts to shut off her mind. She’s not sure how long it takes, but eventually Gideon’s voice fills the air again. Sara jumps up instantly as the doors open and she rushes into the room, straight to Ava’s side.</p><p>“Gideon?” Zari asks softly as she and the rest of the Legends stay behind Sara in an attempt to give her the space she needs.</p><p>“The surgery went well. The gunshot had hit her spleen which is why the bleeding was so heavy. Another 10 minutes and she would have bled out.” Sara lets out a heavy breath at that fact. “I’ve had to remove Captain Sharpe’s spleen, the wound is cleaned and repaired.”</p><p>“That’s good, right?” Zari asks.</p><p>“Yes, Ms Tomaz. I currently predict Captain Sharpe’s survival rate at 95%.”</p><p>“95%?” Sara asks.</p><p>“Due to her lack of spleen, she’s at an increased risk of infection.”</p><p>“That’s all?”</p><p>“Yes, Captain. Barring an infection, I expect her to make a full recovery in two to three weeks.” Sara nods taking hold of Ava’s hand.</p><p>“Thank you,”</p><p>“The anaesthetic should wear off soon but she’s lost a lot of blood and is on some heavy painkillers so don’t be alarmed if she doesn’t wake up right away.”</p><p>Sara nods, her focus solely on Ava. She’s not aware of the chair that’s placed behind her until Zari guides her down into it. She’s not aware of the Legends leaving her alone with the promise of checking in with her every so often. She’s not aware of anything until Zari is wafting a burger in front of her face three hours later. She finally pulls her eyes away from Ava and towards Zari.</p><p>“Hey. You okay?”</p><p>“Yeah,” Sara breathes, not sure she believes her answer. She won’t truly be okay until Ava is awake again.</p><p>“Here,” Zari hands her the plate which she takes hold of with the hand that’s not holding Ava’s. “You need to eat.” Zari instructs carefully. Reluctantly Sara lets go of Ava’s hand and begins to eat, knowing that the woman is right and that she also won’t take no for an answer. Her infuriating stubbornness was one of the qualities Sara has grown to love most about Zari.</p><p>Satisfied with getting Sara to eat, Zari allows them to sit in silence for a while. She’s relishing being able to spend some time with Ava. She’d always had a soft spot for the woman and their relationship had only gotten stronger throughout their shared missions, video game nights and their shared love for technology.</p><p> </p><p>——————————————</p><p> </p><p>Ava finally wakes up properly a day later. Gideon checks her over and gives Ava the green light, but she has to stay looked up to an IV for pain medication. The Legends help her relocate from the med-bay to their bedroom so that she can be more comfortable. Sara keeps the conversation light and easy with Ava for the first couple of days. She doesn’t want to upset her girlfriend and Ava wasn’t herself in those first few days anyway. She was groggy from the medication, tired and generally just not as with it as she usually is. Gideon put it down to the painkillers and the trauma her body has experienced. But finally, five days after the shooting, Sara works up the courage to bring it up.</p><p>“I was wondering when we’d talk about it,” Ava replies softly as she reaches for Sara’s hand, steadying both women.</p><p>“Are you okay to talk about it?” Sara checks to which Ava just smiles at her sweetly and nods. “Why’d you do it?”</p><p>“You can’t be replaced.” Ava merely shrugs as if it’s obvious.</p><p>“But what do you mean by that?” Sara asks frustrated, “You keep saying it and I don’t understand what you mean. None of us can be replaced.”</p><p>“That’s not entirely true though, Sara. Is it?” Ava’s voice is calm. Too calm for Sara’s liking, its borderline cold.</p><p>“Aves, you’re one of a kind.”</p><p>“There are literally thousands of me. In all different varieties. You can just pick a new one from a catalogue.” Sara sighs and goes to argue but Ava keeps talking. “Maybe you can order Nurturing Ava next time and then you won’t have to be a mom to 5 grown adults.” Ava attempts to joke but Sara doesn’t find it funny.</p><p>“Ava. No. You are not replaceable. You are not like any of the others. You are different in all of the best ways.” Sara responds. “I love <em>you</em>. I could never replace <em>you</em>.”</p><p>“But you could. I mean that’s why Darhk’s interested, isn’t it? That guy literally said I’m replaceable. And he’s not wrong.”</p><p>“Look, we don’t know that for sure, but I’ve got Gideon watching 2213 closely and Ray is supposed to be reaching out to Nora to see if she knows anything, but I think she’d have come to you if she knew anything. You’re too important to her.” Sara sighs. “And no. I couldn’t replace you, not ever. They might look and sound like you but they will never be you. They will never love the way that you do. Your heart, it’s what makes you different. It’s the thing that I’m in love with. Aves, god, you’re so beautiful. Not just to look at, but the way your mind works. Gosh, you’re so inquisitive and you get so excited when you work out the problem. You’re a fucking brick wall, Sharpe.”</p><p>“A brick wall?” Ava asks incredulously. She isn’t sure if she’s supposed to be offended by that or not.</p><p>“You’re always there. You’re unwavering, dependable. Bombs could be going off inside of you and you’d still be concerned about everyone else because that’s how big your heart is. And I’m not saying that’s a good thing, because you need to put yourself first more, but we’ll get back to that.” Sara takes a breath. “But whether you like it or not, the Legends and I are your family and you love us just as much as we love you. You’re the only Ava we’ve ever known and you’re the only Ava we love and cherish.”</p><p>“I know,” Ava admits.</p><p>“So where did this come from? Why didn’t you say anything before?”</p><p>“I just… sometimes I just get a little caught up in my head and I just knew in that situation that I was our best hope of getting out. I had a gun.”</p><p>“Yeah, but I can handle myself. We could have negotiated that together.”</p><p>“Yeah,”</p><p>“We’re a team, Aves. I’m always in your corner, remember?”</p><p>“I know. I just didn’t want to lose you. You’re far too important.”</p><p>“I’m no more important than you,” Sara responds sincerely as she grabs Ava’s hands.</p><p>“I guess sometimes I forget that,” Ava says shyly, removing her hands from Sara’s grasp. “Sometimes I just get so overwhelmed by an emotion or a feeling and I don’t know how to deal with it or express whatever it is I’m feeling.” Ava admits quietly.</p><p>“Maybe some of that is my fault,” Sara says softly, “I mean, you don’t have the same life experience as me,”</p><p>“Not all of us are assassins babe,”</p><p>“No, I know, that’s not what I meant. I just-“ Sara sighs, “I don’t really know how to say it without it maybe sounding rude,”</p><p>“Sara just say what you want to say, I know your heart is in the right place,” Ava reassures her girlfriend and Sara gives her a grateful smile.</p><p>“Okay,” Sara takes a deep breath, “I think that whilst yes, you’re an adult, you’ve only actually had a few years worth of life experience. And I think sometimes I expect you to know how to react to things or to be able to control your emotions when in reality, it’s probably the first you’ve had to deal with certain things. And that’s not fair. I also apparently don’t check in with you enough. You know you can talk to me about anything,”</p><p>“I know Sara, I know.” Ava reassures, “But that actually maybe makes some sense.”</p><p>“I’m not trying to call you childish or immature, I don’t mean it like that. God, Aves, you’re so smart and decisive. I just think you don’t have the emotional control of most people your age, and there’s nothing wrong with that. You’re human. And it’s not that I forget that, but I think sometimes I do just forget that whilst professionally, you’re this awesomely cool, calm, put-together woman who is excellent in everything she does, and that doesn’t always translate into your private and emotional life.”</p><p>“You’re not perfect either, Sara.” Ava replies a little defensively before she takes in what Sara is really saying.</p><p>“Oh, I know. I didn’t mean to imply that I was. To make mistakes is what makes us human. I’m very far from perfect. But I keep learning every day, the same as you.”</p><p>“You just have experiences to draw from, whilst I have fake memories,”</p><p>“I- yeah.” Sara concedes, it’s not quite how she would have worded it, but it’s essentially what she means.</p><p>“No, I get it. I’ve never really thought about it.” Ava sighs, “I mean you had this whole normal life with so many people who loved you. And then the Gambit happened and I know that changed you and you went through literal hell, but you still had people who loved you. And then you returned to your family, you gained new friends and then you got the team. You found a whole other family here.”</p><p>“And I found you.” Ava doesn’t reply, but Sara knows what she’s thinking. “And you had fake parents and fake friends… But you love so fiercely and have so many strong relationships now. Gary worships the ground you walk on and you and Nora have that whole fucked up childhood thing going on and the Legends are just as much your family as they are mine. You’re my family, Aves.” Sara finishes calmly, slowly reaching back out for Ava’s hand.</p><p>“I am?” She asks shyly, allowing Sara to take hold of her hand once again.</p><p>“You’re the most important person in my life, Ava. I have never loved anyone as much as I love you.” She replies softly, eyes brimming with love and adoration.</p><p>“I love you.” Ava smiles.</p><p>“I’d kinda hope so seeing as you took a fucking bullet for me.” Sara smiles. How the hell is she supposed to be angry at that?</p><p>“Sorry,”</p><p>“Look, Aves. I might not be over the moon about the mentality behind your actions in that moment,”</p><p>“I just had to protect you. I couldn’t live with myself if you got hurt because of me.” Ava interrupts her.</p><p>“And I couldn’t live with myself if <em>you</em> got hurt because of me… oh, wait.” Sara gives her a pointed look.</p><p>“Sara,”</p><p>“No, that’s kinda hypocritical.”</p><p>“I didn’t mean it like that.”</p><p>“I know, I’m sorry. The whole situation just scared me. That’s all.”</p><p>“I’m sorry.”</p><p>“I’m sorry too.” Sara smiles sadly. There’s a beat of silence between them, “Can I hug you?” Sara looks up from the entwined hands and sees Ava nod. Gently, Sara moves down their bed and curls herself into Ava’s right side, careful to not interact with her incision site. Ava brings her right hand up and begins to run her fingers through Sara’s hair.</p><p>“Thank you, Sara.”</p><p>“Huh?”</p><p>“Just thank you. For putting up with all of this, for saving my life - multiple times - but mostly for loving me for me.”</p><p>“Right back at you,” Sara responds sleepily. She hadn’t realised how much the lack of sleep had taken its toll on her over the last week. The pair lay there in silence for a long while before Sara speaks breaking their silence. “Aves?”</p><p>“I thought you were asleep,” Ava laughs softly, taken by surprise at the sudden interruption.</p><p>“No, just thinking.”</p><p>“Sounds dangerous,” Ava teases.</p><p>“You’re lucky you’re hurt.” Sara huffs, lifting her head to glare at Ava before nestling back into her side and waiting for Ava’s fingers to continue to run through her hair.</p><p>“What is it?” Ava asks when Sara doesn’t speak.</p><p>“I guess I’ve been a little scared to bring it up.” Sara shrugs into Ava’s side causing Ava to groan in pain at the sudden movement against her side. “Sorry,” Sara says quickly as she attempts to scoot away from Ava’s body, only to be held in place by Ava.</p><p>“You’re good.” Truth be told, Ava has been in discomfort the entire time, but after 5 days of distance, she doesn’t want Sara to move away from her. “You shouldn’t be scared to talk to me about things, honey.”</p><p>“No, I know.” Sara argues back, “I just…” Ava feels her girlfriend let out a long sigh. “Do you wanna meet my family?” Sara asks in a small voice, unsure of the answer she’ll get.</p><p>“I’d love too,” Ava replies honestly, a smile tugs at her lips.</p><p>“Really?”</p><p>“Yeah, babe.” Ava chuckles at her, “I’ve heard so many stories about Laurel and your dad and I know how important those relationships are to you. Your dad is back and I think you should make the most of the time you have together. If that time involves me, well then I’m the lucky one.” Ava smiles down at her girlfriend who has lifted her head again.</p><p>“You mean that?”</p><p>“Of course.” Sara nods in response.</p><p>“And you’d be okay meeting the other Laurel?”</p><p>“Yeah, why not?”</p><p>“Some people find it hard to divorce the stories I tell about my sister with her. I mean, she’s a lot better than she used to be and I know her and dad have bonded and I suppose if I spent more time in Star City we would too. It’s complicated I guess.”</p><p>“More complicated than having a <em>c-word</em> girlfriend from 2213?” Sara just rolls her eyes playfully.</p><p>“I’ll reach out and set up a dinner then.”</p><p>“Good. But, uh, why were you scared to ask me that?” Ava asks curiously.</p><p>“I didn’t want it to seem like I was throwing my family in your face.” She replies hesitantly.</p><p>“Oh honey, no,” Ava has to stop a laugh from escaping her lips. “That’s sweet, really it is, but so, so stupid. It’s not your fault I don’t have parents and there isn’t a timeline in existence where I would hold that against you.”</p><p>“I’m sorry,”</p><p>“You’ve nothing to be sorry for.” Ava smiles down at her. “I do, however, think we need to start being a bit more honest about our feelings and we definitely need to get better at communicating what we want or need.”</p><p>“Yeah, I think you’re right.” Sara agrees, “We need to be able to have conversations about the difficult stuff even if it might upset one of us.”</p><p>“As long as the sole purpose of the conversation isn’t to upset the other person, I agree wholeheartedly.”</p><p>“Oh god no. I would never intentionally hurt you, you know that, right?”</p><p>“Me either,”</p><p>“Okay,” Sara cuddles in closer to Ava’s side, something Ava wasn’t aware was possible. The couple lay together for a while before Ava gets a little bored.</p><p>“Come here,” Ava half asks, half instructs Sara. Sara gives her a quizzical look but doesn’t argue, instead, moving up onto the pillows of their bed and sitting next to Ava. “Well I can’t bend down, so I needed you to come up here, so I can do this,” Ava explains as she reaches out to Sara’s chin and draws her in closer to her until their lips meet in a sweet, overdue kiss.</p><p>“I love you so much, Ava Sharpe.”</p><p>“I love you too,” Ava smiles before pulling Sara back in for another kiss which Sara breaks abruptly.</p><p>“I just thought. If you’re meeting my dad, I probably need to introduce you to mum as well. She’s in Central City.”</p><p>“I can do that.” Ava smiles sweetly at her girlfriend. “Once I’m up and about, we’ll do whatever you want to do, in whatever order you want to do.”</p><p>“Okay,” Sara smiles. “Thank you.”</p><p>“Of course.”</p><p>“I’m not hurting you, am I?”</p><p>“Eh,” Ava shrugs, “Your kisses are pretty good painkillers.”</p><p>“Note to self,” Sara smirks before leaning back into Ava’s lips, careful not to put her weight onto the woman. “Maybe just do me a solid and don’t ever jump in front of a bullet for me, or anyone else, ever again, okay?”</p><p>“No promises, Lance.” Sara expects nothing less from the woman in her arms and shakes her head with a smile as she leans into Ava’s side and calls out for Gideon to play a movie for the women to fall asleep too.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>apologies for the lack of plot, i wrote this at 4am and editing me can't be bothered to develop proper plot points :)</p><p>hope you enjoyed!</p><p>- em</p></blockquote></div></div>
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